Recipe suggestion apparatus, recipe suggestion method, and non-transitory computer readable medium for recipe suggestion

ABSTRACT

A recipe suggestion apparatus which includes a memory that stores a plurality of recipes, and circuitry that obtains, via the internet, spec information on a cooking appliance of a predetermined user from a user terminal of the predetermined user or the cooking appliance, the spec information indicating a performance upper limit of the cooking appliance, identifies, from the plurality of recipes, at least one target recipe in which a value of a cooking operation corresponding to a quantitative description falls within a predetermined range of the performance upper limit indicated by the spec information, and sends, via the internet, the identified target recipe to the user terminal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Patent ApplicationNo. PCT/JP2019/032295, filed on Aug. 19, 2019, which claims priorityfrom Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-185928, filed on Sep. 28,2018, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a recipe suggestion apparatus, arecipe suggestion method and a recipe suggestion program.

BACKGROUND

It is hard for many people, including those other than housewives whocook every day, to decide what to make at an opportunity of cooking. Asa solution to this problem, there is a service that receives recipesposted by various users, including professional and amateur cooks, anddistributes or publishes the recipes on the Internet.

However, the service described above publishes a vast number of recipes,and it can take a lot of time and effort for a user to choose apreferable recipe.

As a technique relating to such choice of recipe, Patent Literature 1discloses an information processing apparatus that chooses dishinformation that fits to a cooking environment, such as time period orweather, as recommended dish information from among a plurality ofpieces of dish information based on cooking environment information thatindicates the cooking environment, and recommends the dish informationto a user.

According to Patent Literature 1, a recipe that meets a time period,weather or other condition can be suggested to a user.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-334605

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides recipe suggestion apparatus, comprising:a memory that stores a plurality of recipes; and circuitry configured toobtain, via the internet, spec information on a cooking appliance of apredetermined user from a user terminal of the predetermined user or thecooking appliance, the spec information indicating a performance upperlimit of the cooking appliance, identify, from the plurality of recipes,at least one target recipe in which a value of a cooking operationcorresponding to a quantitative description falls within a predeterminedrange of the performance upper limit indicated by the spec information,and send, via the internet, the identified target recipe to the userterminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a network configurationincluding a recipe suggestion apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the recipesuggestion apparatus according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a user terminalaccording to this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of electricalkitchen appliance according to this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of spec informationaccording to this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a recipe tableaccording to this embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a usage historytable according to this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a cookingproperty table according to this embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow example of a recipe suggestion methodaccording to this embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a screen example 1 according to thisembodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a screen example 2 according to thisembodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a screen example 3 according to thisembodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a screen example 4 according to thisembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Technical Problem

The conventional technique described above enables recipe suggestionaccording to the environment of a user. However, in preparation for theso-called smart kitchen technology, there are other factors that need tobe taken into account.

In the smart kitchen technology, recipes are programmed in electricalkitchen appliances so that various cooking operations can beautomatically done. However, different electrical kitchen appliances ofdifferent users, in which recipes are to be programmed, have differentspecs.

Therefore, if a recipe is suggested simply based on the externalenvironment or the like, some user may be unable to get the most out ofthe performance of their electrical kitchen appliance, and fail toprepare a dish with an appropriate efficiency or quality.

In addition, users who want to use recipes for cooking tend to prefer tosave time and effort in cooking. On the other hand, such users also tendto wish to make a fancy dish by using a recipe filled with know-how ofprofessional cooks or the like.

However, no technique has been proposed that is based on such a recipeusage as described above and suggests a preferable recipe by taking thepersonal taste of a user into account.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a technique thatenables suggestion of an appropriate recipe that meets the specs of anelectrical kitchen appliance or the personal taste of a user.

Solution to Problem

To attain the object described above, a recipe suggestion apparatusaccording to an aspect of the present disclosure is a recipe suggestionapparatus including: a recipe storage part that stores recipes, and arecipe suggestion part that obtains spec information on a cookingappliance of a predetermined user from a terminal of the user or thecooking appliance, identifies, in the recipes, a recipe a value of acooking operation corresponding to a quantitative description in whichfalls within a predetermined range from a performance upper limit in thespec information, and delivers the identified recipe to the terminal ofthe user.

The recipe suggestion apparatus according to the aspect of the presentdisclosure may further include a usage history storage part that storesa usage history of a recipe for the user, and the recipe suggestion partmay determine a property personally required by the user for cookingaccording to a recipe based on at least any of an actual cooking time ofthe user, a cooking detail, and a predetermined attribute of a recipeused by the user indicated by the usage history, identify a recipe thatincludes the property as an attribute, and deliver the identified recipeto the terminal of the user.

To attain the object described above, a recipe suggestion methodaccording to an aspect of the present disclosure is a recipe suggestionmethod, wherein an information processing apparatus that stores recipesperforms a step of obtaining spec information on a cooking appliance ofa predetermined user from a terminal of the user or the cookingappliance, a step of identifying, in the recipes, a recipe a value of acooking operation corresponding to a quantitative description in whichfalls within a predetermined range from a performance upper limit in thespec information, and a step of delivering the identified recipe to theterminal of the user.

In the recipe suggestion method according to the aspect of the presentdisclosure, the information processing apparatus may further store ausage history of a recipe for the user, and may determine a propertypersonally required by the user for cooking according to a recipe basedon at least any of an actual cooking time of the user, a cooking detail,and a predetermined attribute of a recipe used by the user indicated bythe usage history, identify a recipe that includes the property as anattribute, and deliver the identified recipe to the terminal of theuser.

To attain the object described above, a recipe suggestion programaccording to an aspect of the present disclosure is a recipe suggestionprogram that makes an information processing apparatus that storesrecipes perform a step of obtaining spec information on a cookingappliance of a predetermined user from a terminal of the user or thecooking appliance, a step of identifying, in the recipes, a recipe avalue of a cooking operation corresponding to a quantitative descriptionin which falls within a predetermined range from a performance upperlimit in the spec information, and a step of delivering the identifiedrecipe to the terminal of the user.

In the recipe suggestion program according to the aspect of the presentdisclosure, the recipe suggestion program may make the informationprocessing apparatus that further stores a usage history of a recipe forthe user perform a step of determining a property personally required bythe user for cooking according to a recipe based on at least any of anactual cooking time of the user, a cooking detail, and a predeterminedattribute of a recipe used by the user indicated by the usage history, astep of identifying a recipe that includes the property as an attribute,and a step of delivering the identified recipe to the terminal of theuser.

Advantageous Effect of Disclosure

According to the present disclosure, an appropriate recipe can besuggested which meets the specs of an electrical kitchen appliance orthe personal taste of a user.

<Network Configuration Including Recipe Suggestion Apparatus>

In the following, an embodiment will be described in detail withreference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of anetwork configuration including a recipe suggestion apparatus 10according to this embodiment.

The recipe suggestion apparatus 10 according to this embodiment may bean apparatus that manages and operates a so-called recipe website. Therecipe suggestion apparatus 10 illustrated herein is a web server thatpublishes the recipe website described above on a network 1 such as theInternet.

On the recipe website published by the recipe suggestion apparatus 10,various users, including professionals, amateurs, names and no-names,post their recipes. On the other hand, various users access the websiteand browse recipes in a relevant genre or posted by a favorite recipeposter.

The recipe can be posted or browsed in any data format. However, themachine readable recipe (MRR) format can be typically used, for example.

A recipe in the MRR format is a recipe that can be read by a cookingappliance (an electrical kitchen appliance 30 described later), such asa microwave oven. On the other hand, a recipe including a mixture ofqualitative expressions and quantitative expressions that can be read byhumans is referred to as a recipe in the human readable recipe (HRR)format.

With a conventional recipe in the HRR format described above or otherformat, one cooking operation is often described by various differentexpressions depending on the recipe poster, and the cooking precisiontends to be low even if such expressions are set in the cookingappliance. The recipe in the MRR format is rid of descriptionsirrelevant to the cooking operation, expression inconsistencies,grammatical errors and the like, which can be included in theconventional recipe.

The data of the recipe in the MRR format is expressed by a graph(directed graph) formed by a plurality of nodes and edges between thenodes, for example. In this graph, nodes define a state transition of aningredient, and an edge indicates an action required for the statetransition between nodes.

Table 1 shows types of the nodes described above.

TABLE 1 type of node description ingredient This node indicates aningredient of a dish. The graph node starts with this node. Aningredient ID is needed. intermediate This node has an IN edge and anOUT edge, and node indicates an intermediate state of a dish. waste nodeThis node indicates a peeled skin or the like. This node is one of endnodes but does not indicate cooking. dish node This node is an end nodethat indicates a dish. special node This node is a preliminary node foran appliance. For example, this node indicates preheating an oven.

Each node can be assigned with an attribute, such as those shown inTable 2, as a node attribute. In this example, it is assumed that thenode is an ingredient node that indicates “carrot”.

TABLE 2 attribute of node legend state raw name carrot (or ingredientID) amount amount (weight) of ingredient

Each edge may be assigned with an attribute, such as those shown inTable 3, as an edge attribute.

TABLE 3 attribute of edge description name action name, such as “cut” or“heat” action ID ID corresponding to action name end condition conditionfor ending action, such as dice “into 3 cm cubes” or simmer “for fiveminutes” appliance ID of appliance, such as “oven” or “microwave oven”order of edges number indicating order of actions

The term “action” described above means a basic operation of a cookingprocedure. For example, an action is an operation such as “cutting” or“heating”. An action may also include a specific set temperature of anappliance, a cooking time, and a detail of an operation, for example.

A specific example of nodes will be described below. When preparing asalad, the dish node is “salad”. The ingredient nodes are “onion”,“cucumber”, “tomato”, “ketchup” and “mayonnaise”, for example. Eachingredient node is assigned with an ID that uniquely identifies theingredient.

The ingredient node “onion” is connected to an intermediate node“chopped onion” by an edge (action) “cut”. The ingredient node“cucumber” is connected to an intermediate node “1-cm cucumber cubes” byan edge (action) “cut”.

The ingredient node “tomato” is connected to an intermediate node “halftomato” by an edge (action) “cut”. The ingredient node “ketchup” and theingredient node “mayonnaise” are connected to an intermediate node“aurora sauce” by an edge (action) “mix”. Note that each of the edges“cut” and “mix” is assigned with an ID that uniquely identifies theaction.

The intermediate nodes “chopped onion”, “1-cm cucumber cubes” and “halftomato” are connected to the dish node “salad” by an edge (action)“plate”. The intermediate node “aurora sauce” is connected to the dishnode “salad” by an edge (action) “dress”. Note that each of the edges“plate” and “dress” is assigned with an ID that uniquely identifies theaction.

The order of the edges is set so that “dress” occurs after “plate”. Theaction “dress” may be replaced with an action “toss”.

When state transitions of ingredients are expressed by a graph asdescribed above, each ingredient is assigned with an ingredient ID thatuniquely identifies the ingredient, and each action required for a statetransition is assigned with an action ID that uniquely identifies theaction.

Therefore, a machine can easily and reliably read recipe informationbased on the IDs. In addition, the appliance to perform the action doesnot need to be specified in the recipe information, so that the recipecan be used with various appliances including future appliances.Furthermore, since all the actions are expressed as an edge, each actioncan be easily extracted from the recipe information.

A user of the recipe website can be a poster or browser of the user'sown will. In the following description, however, the recipe poster andthe browser will be collectively referred to as a user. Thus, inaddition to the recipe suggestion apparatus 10, a user terminal 20 of aposter or a browser is also communicably connected to the network 1illustrated in FIG. 1.

The user terminal 20 described above may be a smartphone, a tabletterminal, a notebook computer or the like that has an appropriatecommunication function that allows communication with the network 1. Theuser terminal 20 may also have a communication function for short-rangewireless communication in addition to the communication functionintended for the network 1 described above, in order to perform datacommunication with the electrical kitchen appliance 30 (such as datacommunication for setting a recipe detail). An example of softwareretained by the user terminal 20 is a mobile application or app 29running on a mobile terminal.

The app 29 allows browsing of a recipe via a browsing function on therecipe website published by the recipe suggestion apparatus 10 and alsohas a function that allows posting of a recipe to the recipe website asrequired.

A person who operates the user terminal 20 accesses the recipe websiteusing the user terminal 20. Then, the person has an intention to browsea desired recipe, set the recipe in the person's electrical kitchenappliance 30, and effectively use the recipe for cooking. Note that aperson who has such an intention and actually use a recipe is referredto as a recipe user.

In the following, a specific configuration of the recipe suggestionapparatus 10 according to this embodiment and procedures performed bythe apparatus will be described step by step.

<Configuration of Recipe Suggestion Apparatus>

As shown in FIG. 2, the recipe suggestion apparatus 10 according to thisembodiment includes a storage part 11, a memory 12, a calculation part13, an input part 14, an output part 15 and a communication part 16.

Of these parts, the storage part 11 is formed by a nonvolatile storageelement, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD).

The storage part 11 at least stores a program 17 for implementing arequired function of the recipe suggestion apparatus according to thisembodiment, a recipe table 120, a usage history table 121, and a cookingproperty table 122. These tables will be described in detail later. Thememory 12 is formed by a volatile storage element, such as a RAM.

The calculation part 13 may be a CPU that loads the program 17 stored inthe storage part 11 into the memory 12 and executes the program 17 toimplement a required function of the recipe suggestion apparatus.

Functions implemented include the function of a recipe storage part 100,the function of a recipe suggestion part 101 and the function of a usagehistory storage part 102. These parts will be described in detail later.

The input part 14 may be a keyboard, a mouse, a keypad, a touch panel, amicrophone or the like that receives a key input or audio input from theuser. The output part 15 may be a display that displays processed data,for example.

The communication part 16 may be a network interface card (NIC) or thelike that connects to the network 1 and communicates with anotherapparatus, such as the user terminal 20 or the electrical kitchenappliance 30.

Note that the input part 14 and the output part 15 described above arenot essential components. These components are needed when the recipesuggestion apparatus 10 is configured so that the input part 14 receivesa request for recipe posting or recipe search from the user and theoutput part 15 displays the processing result.

<Configuration of User Terminal>

Next, a configuration example of the user terminal 20 according to thisembodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing aconfiguration example of the user terminal 20 according to thisembodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the user terminal 20 according to thisembodiment includes a storage part 21, a memory 22, a calculation part23, an input part 24, an output part 25, a first communication part 26and a second communication part 27.

Of these parts, the storage part 21 is formed by a nonvolatile storageelement, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD).

The storage part 21 at least stores the app 29 as a program 28 forimplementing a required function of the user terminal according to thisembodiment. As described above, the app 29 allows browsing of a recipevia a browsing function on the recipe website published by the recipesuggestion apparatus 10. The memory 22 is formed by a volatile storageelement, such as a RAM. The calculation part 23 may be a CPU that loadsthe program 28 stored in the storage part 21 into the memory 22 andexecutes the program 28 to implement a required function of the userterminal.

The input part 24 may be a keyboard, a mouse, a keypad, a touch panel, amicrophone or the like that receives a key input or audio input from theuser. The output part 25 may be a display that displays processed data,for example.

The first communication part 26 may be a network interface card (NIC) orthe like that connects to the network 1 and communicates with anotherapparatus, such as the recipe suggestion apparatus 10.

The second communication part 27 may be a unit that performs short-rangewireless communication, such as wireless communication or infraredcommunication, at a particular frequency (such as in a 2.4 GHz band)with the electrical kitchen appliance 30.

<Configuration of Electrical Kitchen Appliance>

Next, a configuration example of the electrical kitchen appliance 30according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagramshowing a configuration example of the electrical kitchen appliance 30according to this embodiment. The electrical kitchen appliance 30 is acooking appliance used for cooking by the user of the user terminal 20.A typical specific example of the electrical kitchen appliance 30 may bea microwave oven or a water oven. In any case, the electrical kitchenappliance 30 is an apparatus that automatically performs a cookingoperation according to a recipe once a predetermined data setup is madeaccording to the recipe.

The electrical kitchen appliance 30 includes a storage part 31, a memory32, a calculation part 33, an input part 34, an output part 35, a firstcommunication part 36, a second communication part 37, a program 38 anda cooking mechanism 39.

Of these parts, the storage part 31 is formed by a nonvolatile storageelement, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD).

The storage part 31 at least stores the program 38 for implementing arequired function of the electrical kitchen appliance 30 according tothis embodiment. The program 38 controls the cooking mechanism 39according to a data setup according to a recipe.

The electrical kitchen appliance 30 retains spec information 381 (seeFIG. 5) on the electrical kitchen appliance 30. The spec information 381is specification information on the electrical kitchen appliance 30,which indicates values concerning items, such as the type of heating,the maximum power, the temperature adjustment range and the storagecapacity. The memory 32 is formed by a volatile storage element, such asa RAM. The calculation part 33 may be a CPU that loads the program 38stored in the storage part 31 into the memory 32 and executes theprogram 38 to implement a required function of the electrical kitchenappliance.

The input part 34 may be a touch panel, a button, a microphone or thelike that receives a key input or audio input from the user. The outputpart 35 may be a display that displays processed data, for example.

The first communication part 36 may be a network interface card (NIC) orthe like that connects to the network 1 and communicates with anotherapparatus, such as the recipe suggestion apparatus 10.

The second communication part 37 may be a unit that performs short-rangewireless communication, such as wireless communication or infraredcommunication, at a particular frequency (such as in a 2.4 GHz band)with the user terminal 20.

The cooking mechanism 39 is a common mechanism provided in the microwaveoven, the water oven or the like described above. For example, thecooking mechanism 39 is an assembly of units for various cookingoperations, such as heating of an ingredient to be cooked or a cookingspace, addition of water, rotation, air exhaustion, or sensing.

The cooking mechanism 39 is controlled by the program 38. For example,the cooking mechanism 39 performs various cooking operations, such asheating, addition of water, rotation or air exhaustion to apredetermined reference value, based on the temperature, the humidity orthe like of an ingredient or the cooking space detected by a sensingunit.

<Specific Examples of Data>

Next, various databases used by the recipe suggestion apparatus 10according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 shows an exampleof the recipe table 120 according to this embodiment.

The recipe table 120 is a table that stores a recipe posted from theuser terminal 20, for example. A structure of the recipe table 120 is agroup of records of data, such as the user ID of the poster of a recipe,an attribute (such as professional or amateur) of the poster, the titleof the recipe, the genre of cooking, the difficulty level, the requiredcooking time, and the file name (which may be a storage locationaddress), which are associated by a recipe ID, as a key item, thatuniquely identifies the recipe, for example.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the usage history table 121 according to thisembodiment. The usage history table 121 is a table that stores a usagehistory of a recipe stored in the recipe table 120 described above.

A structure of the usage history table 121 is a group of records ofdata, such as a recipe ID of a recipe used by a recipe user, a date andtime of usage, an actual cooking time taken when a recipe user used arecipe, and a cooking detail, which are associated by a user ID, as akey item, that uniquely identifies a recipe user, for example. Note thatthe cooking detail described above may be the type of the electricalkitchen appliance 30 used by the recipe user, for example.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the cookingproperty table 122 according to this embodiment. The cooking propertytable 122 is a table that stores a lifestyle of a recipe user and aproperty personally required by the recipe user of the lifestyle forcooking according to the recipe, which are determined based on at leastany of an actual cooking time of the recipe user, a cooking detail, anda predetermined attribute of the recipe used by the recipe user.

A structure of the cooking property table 122 is a group of records of alifestyle of a recipe user and cooking properties required by the recipeuser including a date and time of cooking, a cooking time, a cookingdetail and a recipe attribute, which are associated by an ID, as a key,that uniquely identifies a record, for example.

As a specific example of the records, provided that the recipe user is aperson whose lifestyle is “busy and gourmet-oriented”, and the date andtime of cooking is “weekday”, a combination of “1 hour or less” as acooking time, “use microwave oven” as a cooking detail, and“professional recipe of medium difficulty level” as a recipe attributemay be defined as cooking properties required by the recipe user of thatlifestyle.

As another example for the recipe user of the same lifestyle asdescribed above, provided that the date and time of cooking is“holiday”, a combination of “2 hours or less” as a cooking time, “usewater oven” as a cooking detail, and “professional recipe of highdifficulty level” as a recipe attribute may be defined as cookingproperties required by the recipe user of that lifestyle.

<Function of Recipe Storage Part>

As described above, the recipe suggestion apparatus 10 has the functionsof the recipe storage part 100, the recipe suggestion part 101 and theusage history storage part 102. Of these parts, the recipe storage part100 receives a recipe posted from the user terminal 20 and stores therecipe in the recipe table 120 in the storage part 11.

In the storing, the recipe storage part 100 assigns a recipe IDaccording to a predetermined rule or algorithm, and generates a recordof data, such as the user ID of the poster of the recipe, an attribute(such as professional or amateur) of the poster, the title of therecipe, descriptions, the genre of cooking, the difficulty level, therequired cooking time, and the file name (which may be a storagelocation address), which are associated by the recipe ID as a key.

Values of all of the user ID, the attribute (such as professional oramateur) of the poster, the title of the recipe, the descriptions, thegenre of cooking, the difficulty level, the required cooking time, andthe file name (which may be a storage location address) are included inthe data of the recipe posted from the user terminal 20.

<Function of Recipe Suggestion Part>

The recipe suggestion part 101 receives a predetermined recipesuggestion request from the user terminal 20, and obtains the specinformation 381 on the electrical kitchen appliance 30 of the recipeuser by requesting the spec information 381 from the user terminal 20 orthe electrical kitchen appliance 30. The spec information 381 obtainedhere is specification information on the electrical kitchen appliance30, which indicates values concerning items, such as the type ofheating, the maximum power, the temperature adjustment range and thestorage capacity.

From among the recipes stored in the recipe table 120, the recipesuggestion part 101 identifies a recipe the value of a cooking operationcorresponding to a quantitative description in which falls within apredetermined range from a performance upper limit in the specinformation 381 obtained as described above.

For example, when the spec information 381 obtained for the “microwaveoven” of the recipe user indicates that the “maximum power”, which is aperformance upper limit, is “1200 W”, a recipe in which a set outputvalue, which is a quantitative description, concerning the cookingoperation “heating” of the “microwave oven” is smaller than the “1200 W”described above by “10%” or less, that is, falls within a range “from1080 W to 1200 W” is identified from among the recipes stored in therecipe table 120. The recipe suggestion part 101 delivers the identifiedrecipe to the user terminal 20 that has transmitted the recipesuggestion request described above to the recipe suggestion part 101.

Note that, of course, the recipe identified and delivered as describedabove meets the other requirements of the recipe user, such as the nameof the dish such as “nikujaga (Japanese meat and potato stew)”, thegenre of the dish such as “Japanese cuisine”, and the amount such as“two servings”.

Alternatively, as described later, the recipe suggestion part 101 mayidentify a population of recipes having an attribute fitting to therecipe user based on the usage history table 121 and the cookingproperty table 122, and identify a recipe that falls within apredetermined range from the performance upper limit described abovefrom the population.

In the latter case, the recipe suggestion part 101 determines a propertypersonally required by the recipe user for cooking according to therecipe based on at least any of the actual cooking time of the recipeuser, the cooking detail, and the predetermined attribute of the recipeused by the recipe user indicated in each usage history in the usagehistory table 121, and stores the property in the cooking property table122.

More specifically, the recipe suggestion part 101 searches the usagehistory table 121 for records using the user ID of the recipe user as akey, and obtains values concerning the recipe ID of a used recipe, thedate and time of usage of the same, the actual cooking time taken whenthe recipe user used the recipe, and the cooking detail (such as thetype of the electrical kitchen appliance 30 used) indicated by eachrecord found.

The recipe suggestion part 101 performs a statistical processing on thevalues of each record obtained as described above to identify a cookingproperty specific to the recipe user, and stores the cooking property inthe cooking property table 122. In the statistical processing in thiscase, for example, an average value of the “cooking times” of all therelevant records and an average value of the cooking times for the otherrecipe users are calculated. The two average values are compared, and ifthe average value of the cooking times for the recipe user is smaller,or in other words, if the cooking times for the recipe user tend to beshorter, the lifestyle of the recipe user is determined to be “busy”.

Furthermore, concerning the “date and time of cooking”, the frequency ofoccurrence of “weekday” and the frequency of occurrence of “holiday” arecalculated and compared, and the attribute the frequency of occurrenceof which is higher is determined to be one of the cooking propertiesrequired by the recipe user.

Furthermore, concerning the “cooking detail”, the frequency ofoccurrence of “use microwave oven” and the frequency of occurrence of“use water oven” are calculated and compared, and the attribute thefrequency of occurrence of which is higher is determined to be one ofthe cooking properties required by the recipe user.

Furthermore, concerning the recipe attribute as a cooking propertyrequired by the recipe user, the frequency of occurrence of“professional recipe” and the frequency of occurrence of “amateurrecipe” are calculated and compared, and the attribute the frequency ofoccurrence of which is higher is determined to be one aspect of thelifestyle of the recipe user (for example, a person who tends to use aprofessional recipe is gourmet-oriented, and a person who tends to usean amateur recipe is ordinary-oriented) and one of the cookingproperties required by the recipe user (such as whether the recipe usertends to want to use a professional recipe or an amateur recipe). Such adetermination is performed for the “difficulty level” in the same manneras for the recipe attribute.

In this way, concerning the “lifestyle” of the recipe user, the recipesuggestion part 101 generates a combination condition for items such as“date and time of cooking”, “cooking time”, “cooking detail” and “recipeattribute”, and stores the combination condition in the cooking propertytable 122 as one record. The record stored in the cooking property table122 is shared by another recipe user whose “lifestyle” agrees with thatof this recipe user.

Thus, the recipe suggestion part 101 refers to the cooking propertytable 122 described above for a cooking property for a recipe user thevalue of “lifestyle” of whom is the same as that of the recipe user whohas transmitted the recipe suggestion request, identifies recipescontaining the cooking property as an attribute in the recipe table 120,designates the group of the identified recipes as a population,identifies in the population a recipe that falls within a predeterminedrange from a performance upper limit described above, and delivers theidentified recipe to the user terminal 20 of the recipe user.

Specifically, for the recipe user who has transmitted the recipesuggestion request, if cooking properties, such as “busy andgourmet-oriented” as the lifestyle, “weekday” as the date and time ofcooking, “1 hour or less” as the cooking time, “use microwave oven” asthe cooking detail, and “professional recipe of medium difficulty level”as the recipe attribute, are identified from the usage history for therecipe user as described above, the recipe suggestion part 101identifies a recipe that meets the conditions of these items in therecipe table 120, designates the group of the identified recipes as apopulation, identifies from among the recipes included in the populationa recipe the value of a cooking operation corresponding to aquantitative description in which falls within a predetermined rangefrom a performance upper limit in the spec information 381, and deliversthe identified recipe to the user terminal 20.

<Function of Usage History Storage Part>

The usage history storage part 102 obtains various informationconcerning a recipe user who has browsed and used a recipe on the recipewebsite and details of the usage from the user terminal 20 or variouslogs concerning the recipe browsing on the recipe website from the userterminal 20, for example, and stores the information in the usagehistory table 121.

The information to be stored is data, such as the recipe ID of therecipe used by the recipe user, the date and time of the usage, theactual cooking time taken when the recipe user used the recipe, and thecooking detail, which are associated by the user ID, as a key item, thatuniquely indicates the recipe user, as shown in FIG. 7.

<Recipe Suggestion Method>

Next, an actual procedure of a recipe suggestion method according tothis embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.Various operations in the recipe suggestion method described below areimplemented by a program executed by the recipe suggestion apparatus 10,for example. The program is formed by codes for implementing the variousoperations described below. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow example 1of the recipe suggestion method according to this embodiment. Here, aflow of a process mainly performed by the recipe suggestion part 101will be described.

In this case, it is assumed that a user (recipe user) of the recipewebsite wants to receive a suggestion of a preferable recipe and usesthe user terminal 20 to transmit a recipe suggestion request to notifythe recipe suggestion apparatus 10 of that.

The recipe suggestion apparatus 10 delivers a screen (screen 900 in FIG.10) for accepting a request for recipe suggestion to the user terminal20. As illustrated in the screen 900 in FIG. 10, of values of a user ID901 of the recipe user, a desired dish genre 902, a scheduled date andtime of use 903 of the recipe, a type 904 of the electrical kitchenappliance 30 to be used, spec information 905, a recipe suggestionrequest may include at least the user ID, the desired dish genre, andthe scheduled date and time of use.

Note that the spec information 905 on the electrical kitchen appliance30 to be used described above is specification information on theelectrical kitchen appliance 30, which indicates values concerningitems, such as the type of heating, the maximum power, the temperatureadjustment range and the storage capacity.

The recipe suggestion part 101 of the recipe suggestion apparatus 10receives a recipe suggestion request from the user terminal 20 on thescreen 900 described above, and obtains values included in the recipesuggestion request (s10).

When the values obtained in s10 are only the user ID, the desired dishgenre (such as Japanese cuisine) and the scheduled date and time of use(such as Thursday Sep. 20, 2018) (if y1 in s11), the recipe suggestionpart 101 determines a lifestyle of the recipe user and a propertypersonally required for cooking according to the recipe based on atleast any of the actual cooking time of the recipe user, the cookingdetail and the predetermined recipe attribute used by the recipe userindicated in each usage history in the usage history table 121 (s12).

In s12, the recipe suggestion part 101 searches the usage history table121 for records using the user ID obtained in s10 as a key. The recipesuggestion part 101 then obtains values concerning the recipe ID of theused recipe, the date and time of usage of the same, the actual cookingtime taken when the recipe user used the recipe, and the cooking detail(such as the type of the electrical kitchen appliance 30 used, or anytemperature, time or the like modified in the recipe) indicated by eachrecord found. The recipe suggestion part 101 performs a statisticalprocessing on the values of each record obtained as described above toidentify a lifestyle and a cooking property specific to the recipe user.

In the statistical processing in this case, for example, an averagevalue of the “cooking times” of all the relevant records and an averagevalue of the cooking times for the other recipe users are calculated.The two average values are compared, and if the average value of thecooking times for the recipe user is smaller, or in other words, if thecooking times for the recipe user tend to be shorter, the lifestyle ofthe recipe user is determined to be “busy”.

Furthermore, concerning the recipe attribute as a cooking propertyrequired by the recipe user, the frequency of occurrence of“professional recipe” and the frequency of occurrence of “amateurrecipe” are calculated and compared, and the attribute the frequency ofoccurrence of which is higher is determined to be one aspect of thelifestyle of the recipe user and one of the cooking properties requiredby the recipe user. Such a determination is performed for the“difficulty level” in the same manner as for the recipe attribute.

Furthermore, concerning the “cooking detail”, the frequency ofoccurrence of “use microwave oven” and the frequency of occurrence of“use water oven” are calculated and compared, and the attribute thefrequency of occurrence of which is higher is determined to be one ofthe cooking properties required by the recipe user.

In this way, the recipe suggestion part 101 generates a combinationcondition for items such as “lifestyle”, “date and time of cooking”,“cooking time”, “cooking detail” and “recipe attribute” for the recipeuser.

The recipe suggestion part 101 then refers to the cooking property table122 for a record of a cooking property that meets the combinationcondition in terms of “length of cooking time”, “cooking detail” and“recipe attribute” in the case of the property of the recipe userdetermined in s12, that is, the “lifestyle” of the recipe user who hastransmitted the recipe suggestion request, and the “date and time ofcooking (weekday or holiday)” obtained from the recipe suggestionrequest in s10 (s13).

For example, of records concerning recipe users of a lifestyle of “busyand gourmet-oriented”, records of cooking properties such as “weekday”as the date and time of cooking, “1 hour or less” as the cooking time,“use microwave oven” and “professional recipe of medium difficultylevel” are referred to.

Furthermore, the recipe suggestion part 101 identifies, in the recipetable 120, a recipe that relates to the dish genre obtained from therecipe suggestion request in s10 and includes, as attributes, thecooking properties identified concerning a situation where the recipeuser having a “busy and gourmet-oriented” lifestyle cooks on a weekday(s14).

In the specific example described above, a recipe that relates to thedish genre (such as Japanese cuisine) obtained from the recipesuggestion request in s10 and includes “1 hour or less” as the cookingtime and “use microwave oven” and “professional recipe of mediumdifficulty level” as cooking properties is identified in the recipetable 120.

The recipe suggestion part 101 then delivers information 1001 on therecipe identified in s14 to the user terminal 20 (see a screen 1000 inFIG. 11) (s15), and ends the process. The information 1001 on the recipeis transmitted from the user terminal 20 to the electrical kitchenappliance 30, set in the electrical kitchen appliance 30, and used forautomatic control of the electrical kitchen appliance 30, as far as theinformation 1001 is data in the machine readable recipe (MRR) format.

If, in the determination in s11 described above, the values obtained ins10 includes not only the user ID, the desired dish genre (such asJapanese cuisine) and the scheduled date and time of use (such as nextMonday) but also the information on the electrical kitchen appliance 30to be used, that is, the spec information 381 (if y2 in s11), the recipesuggestion part 101 designates the recipes identified in s14 as apopulation, and identifies, from among the recipes included in thepopulation, a recipe the value of a cooking operation corresponding to aquantitative description in which falls within a predetermined rangefrom a performance upper limit in the spec information 381 describedabove (s16).

For example, when the spec information 381 obtained in s10 relates to“microwave oven” and indicates that the “maximum power”, which is aperformance upper limit, is “1200 W”, a recipe in which a set outputvalue, which is a quantitative description, concerning the cookingoperation “heating” of the “microwave oven” is smaller than the “1200 W”described above by “10%” or less, that is, falls within a range “from1080 W to 1200 W” is identified from among the recipes included in thepopulation.

The recipe suggestion part 101 then delivers information 1101 on therecipe identified in s16 to the user terminal 20 (see a screen 1100 inFIG. 12) (s15), and ends the process. The information 1101 on the recipeis transmitted from the user terminal 20 to the electrical kitchenappliance 30, set in the electrical kitchen appliance 30, and used forautomatic control of the electrical kitchen appliance 30, as far as theinformation 1101 is data in the machine readable recipe (MRR) format.

If, in the determination in s11 described above, the values obtained ins10 are only the user ID, the desired dish genre (such as Japanesecuisine) and the information on the electrical kitchen appliance 30 tobe used, that is, the spec information 381 (if y3 in s11), the recipesuggestion part 101 identifies, from among the recipes stored in therecipe table 120, a recipe whose dish genre is the user's desired oneand the value of a cooking operation corresponding to a quantitativedescription in which falls within a predetermined range from aperformance upper limit in the spec information 381 (s17).

For example, when the desired dish genre is “Japanese cuisine”, and thespec information 381 obtained concerning the “microwave oven” of therecipe user indicates that the “maximum power”, which is a performanceupper limit, is “1200 W”, a recipe in which a set output value, which isa quantitative description, concerning the cooking operation “heating”of the “microwave oven” is smaller than the “1200 W” described above by“10%” or less, that is, falls within a range “from 1080 W to 1200 W” isidentified from among the recipes of “Japanese cuisine” stored in therecipe table 120.

The recipe suggestion part 101 then delivers information 1201 on theidentified recipe to the user terminal 20 that has transmitted therecipe suggestion request described above (see a screen 1200 in FIG. 13)(s15), and ends the process. The information 1201 on the recipe istransmitted from the user terminal 20 to the electrical kitchenappliance 30, set in the electrical kitchen appliance 30, and used forautomatic control of the electrical kitchen appliance 30, as far as theinformation 1201 is data in the machine readable recipe (MRR) format.

Although the best mode for carrying out the present disclosure or thelike have been specifically described above, the present disclosure isnot limited to those modes, and various modifications are possiblewithout departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

According to this embodiment described above, an appropriate recipe thatmeets the specs of an electrical kitchen appliance or the personal tasteof a user can be suggested.

Note that the recipe suggestion method according to this embodiment maybe implemented by recording a program for implementing various functionsof the recipe suggestion apparatus in a computer-readable recordingmedium, loading the program recorded in the recording medium into acomputer system, and instructing the computer system to implement therecipe suggestion method.

Specifically, the program described above is a program that makes acomputer function as an information processing apparatus that storesrecipes and performs a step of obtaining spec information on a cookingappliance of a predetermined user from a terminal of the user or thecooking appliance, a step of identifying, in the recipes, a recipe avalue of a cooking operation corresponding to a quantitative descriptionin which falls within a predetermined range from a performance upperlimit in the spec information, and a step of delivering the identifiedrecipe to the terminal of the user.

The program described above is also a program that makes a computerfunction as the information processing apparatus that further stores arecipe usage history of the user, and the information processingapparatus performs a step of determining a property personally requiredby the user for cooking according to the recipe based on at least any ofan actual cooking time of the user, a cooking detail, and apredetermined attribute of a recipe used by the user indicated by theusage history, a step of identifying a recipe that includes the propertyas an attribute, and a step of delivering the identified recipe to theterminal of the user.

The “computer system” herein includes an OS and hardware, such asperipheral devices. The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to atransportable medium, such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, aROM, a CD-ROM or an USB memory, or a storage device, such as a hard diskor SSD, incorporated in the computer system.

The “computer-readable recording medium” may further include a mediumthat dynamically retain a program for a short time, such as acommunication line in the case where a program is transmitted over anetwork such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephoneline, or a medium that retains a program for a certain time, such as avolatile memory in a computer system serving as a server or a client insuch a case.

The program may be a program intended for implementing some of thefunctions described above or may be a program that can implement thefunctions described above in cooperation with another program recordedin a computer system in advance.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   1 network-   10 recipe suggestion apparatus-   11 storage part-   12 memory-   13 calculation part-   14 input part-   15 output part-   16 communication part-   17 program-   100 recipe storage part-   101 recipe suggestion part-   102 usage history storage part-   120 recipe table-   121 usage history table-   122 cooking property table-   20 user terminal-   21 storage part-   22 memory-   23 calculation part-   24 input part-   25 output part-   26 first communication part-   27 second communication part-   28 program-   29 app-   30 electrical kitchen appliance-   31 storage part-   32 memory-   33 calculation part-   34 input part-   35 output part-   36 first communication part-   37 second communication part-   38 program-   381 spec information-   39 cooking mechanism

1. A recipe suggestion apparatus, comprising: a memory that stores aplurality of recipes; and circuitry configured to obtain, via theinternet, spec information on a cooking appliance of a predetermineduser from a user terminal of the predetermined user or the cookingappliance, the spec information indicating a performance upper limit ofthe cooking appliance, identify, from the plurality of recipes, at leastone target recipe in which a value of a cooking operation correspondingto a quantitative description falls within a predetermined range of theperformance upper limit indicated by the spec information, and send, viathe internet, the identified target recipe to the user terminal.
 2. Therecipe suggestion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitryis further configured to: manage a usage history of at least one of theplurality of recipes for the user, determine a cooking property which ispersonally required by the user for cooking according to the usagehistory of the at least one of the plurality of recipes, the usagehistory of the at least one of the plurality of recipes including atleast any of an actual cooking time of the user, a cooking tool, and apredetermined attribute of the recipe used by the user, identify thetarget recipe that matches the cooking property as an attribute of therecipe, and send, via the internet, the identified target recipe to theuser terminal.
 3. The recipe suggestion apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the cooking appliance performs autonomous cooking by inputtingdata corresponding to the identified target recipe.
 4. The recipesuggestion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a format of at leastone of the plurality of recipes is Machine Readable Recipe (MRR) format.5. The recipe suggestion apparatus according to claim 2, wherein thecircuitry is further configured to receive, via the internet, a recipesuggestion request from the user, the recipe suggestion requestincluding at least one of a user identification (ID), a request genre, aplanned date for cooking the target recipe, and the spec information onthe cooking appliance.
 6. The recipe suggestion apparatus according toclaim 5, wherein the circuitry is further configured to manage aplurality of candidates of the coking property based on information of alifestyle of the user, in advance to the determination of the cookingproperty.
 7. The recipe suggestion apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the circuitry is configured to: obtain, via the internet, thespec information from the cooking appliance, the cooking appliance beingconnected with the recipe suggestion apparatus via the internet, send,via the internet, the identified target recipe to the cooking appliance,and control, via the internet, the cooking appliance to performautonomous cooking based on the identified target recipe.
 8. A recipesuggestion method, comprising: obtaining, via the internet, specinformation on a cooking appliance of a predetermined user from a userterminal of the predetermined user or the cooking appliance, the specinformation indicating a performance upper limit of the cookingappliance, identifying, using circuitry, from a plurality of recipes, atleast one target recipe in which a value of a cooking operationcorresponding to a quantitative description falls within a predeterminedrange of the performance upper limit indicated by the spec information,and sending, via the internet, the identified target recipe to the userterminal.
 9. The recipe suggestion method according to claim 8, furthercomprising: managing a usage history of at least one of the plurality ofrecipes for the user, and determining a cooking property which ispersonally required by the user for cooking according to the usagehistory of the at least one of the plurality of recipes, the usagehistory of the at least one of the plurality of recipes including atleast any of an actual cooking time of the user, a cooking tool, and apredetermined attribute of the recipe used by the user indicated by theusage history, identifying the target recipe that matches the cookingproperty as an attribute of the recipe, and sending, via the internet,the identified target recipe to the user terminal.
 10. The recipesuggestion method according to claim 8, wherein the cooking applianceperforms autonomous cooking by inputting data corresponding to theidentified target recipe.
 11. The recipe suggestion method according toclaim 8, wherein a format of at least one of the plurality of recipes isMachine Readable Recipe (MRR) format.
 12. The recipe suggestion methodaccording to claim 9, wherein further comprising: receiving, via theinternet, a recipe suggestion request from the user, the recipesuggestion request including at least one of a user identification (ID),a request genre, a planned date for cooking the target recipe, and thespec information on the cooking appliance.
 13. The recipe suggestionmethod according to claim 12, wherein further comprising: managing aplurality of candidates of the coking property based on information of alifestyle of the user, in advance to the determination of the cookingproperty.
 14. The recipe suggestion method according to claim 8, furthercomprising: obtaining, via the internet, the spec information from thecooking appliance, the cooking appliance being connected with the recipesuggestion apparatus via the internet, sending, via the internet, theidentified target recipe to the cooking appliance, and controlling, viathe internet, the cooking appliance to perform autonomous cooking basedon the identified target recipe.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium that stores a program which causes a computer toexecute a method for controlling a recipe suggestion apparatus, themethod comprising: obtaining, via the internet, spec information on acooking appliance of a predetermined user from a user terminal of thepredetermined user or the cooking appliance, the spec informationindicating a performance upper limit of the cooking appliance,identifying, in a plurality of recipes, at least one target recipe inwhich a value of a cooking operation corresponding to a quantitativedescription falls within a predetermined range of the performance upperlimit identified by the spec information, and sending, via the internet,the identified target recipe to the user terminal.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 15,the method further comprising: managing a usage history of at least oneof the plurality of recipes for the user, determining a cooking propertywhich is personally required by the user for cooking according to theusage history of the at least one of the plurality of recipes, the usagehistory of the at least one of the plurality of recipes including atleast any of an actual cooking time of the user, a cooking tool, and apredetermined attribute of the recipe used by the user indicated by theusage history, identifying the target recipe that matches the cookingproperty as an attribute of the recipe a recipe that includes theproperty as an attribute, and sending, via the internet, the identifiedtarget recipe to the user terminal.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium according to claim 15, wherein thecooking appliance performs autonomous cooking by inputting datacorresponding to the identified target recipe.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium according to claim 15, wherein aformat of at least one of the plurality of recipes is Machine ReadableRecipe (MRR) format.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable recordingmedium according to claim 16, wherein the method further comprising:receiving, via the internet, a recipe suggestion request from the user,the recipe suggestion request including at least one of a useridentification (ID), a request genre, a planned date for cooking thetarget recipe, and the spec information on the cooking appliance. 20.The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim19, wherein the method further comprising: managing a plurality ofcandidates of the coking property based on information of a lifestyle ofthe user, in advance to the determination of the cooking property.